Politeia is a form of social government in which, according to Aristotle, the majority rules in the interest of the common good. This form of government combines the best aspects of oligarchy and democracy but is free from their extremes and drawbacks.
According to Aristotle, politeia is a moderate democracy based on obedience to the law and oriented toward the common good rather than the interests of the ruling majority. As understood by Aristotle, the term politeia was not adopted by subsequent representatives of ancient political thought. And Aristotle himself used it much more often in a broader sense, denoting any form of the polis, meaning urban or state structure, in which the polarization of the poor and the rich is removed by the predominance of the wealthy middle strata.
Example of Politeia government system
For Aristotle, the polis as the highest form of communication is primary in relation to the family and the individual, as the whole is primary with regard to the part. The primary goal of the state is “a happy and beautiful life”. The main task of the state is to educate its citizens in ethical virtue. It was the basis of the philosopher’s extensive work, the so-called Politeia, which contained the history and description of the structure of no less than 158 states of the time.
